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“I just don’t get Twitter.”
How many of us still hear this from friends, family and colleagues?
It’s certainly a legitimate statement. On the surface, Twitter isn’t that complex. It must be frustrating to look at the numbers (i.e. huge adoption rates, $1 billion valuation, etc.) and still not “get” it. What is everyone else experiencing that I’m not? Who really cares what I’m doing at any given moment… let alone what a brand is doing?
In fact, if you look at Twitter simply as a “status-update service,” as the Pew Internet for the American Life Project described it in a recent study1; you’re most likely one of those people looking for an enlightenment tweet.
But what is really game-changing about Twitter and other services focused on the ambient “now,” is the digital pulse it creates—that real-time buzz of conversation, filtered through preferred sources (i.e. who you’re following), to create a personalized instance of the Web.
But what do we mean when we say the real-time Web? When someone searches for content, the value of the results they are served is often determined by either relevance or timeliness (or both). Most people would say that Google has done a fine job of owning relevance—its algorithms for determining such a subjective parameter are practically unmatched. However timeliness was always a challenge. The process of indexing takes a little while. In some cases it could be upwards of 6 months before your content would appear in Google’s organic rankings.
The social web has brought new meaning to the timeliness metric. A few months ago I added a script to my Firefox browser that pulled Twitter results directly into my Google searches (see image). Just recently, at the Web 2.0 Summit in New York, Google Labs announced Social Search, a tool “that helps you find more relevant public content from your broader social circle.”2 And “social” doesn’t mean “status updates.” It means businesses sharing content they care about, conferences getting discussed as speakers are presenting, and news stories breaking at unfathomable speeds (for better or for worse… *cough* Balloon Boy *cough*).
So for those Twitter luddites out there, I hope this helps you see beyond the platform. Twitter might very well go the way of the social tools of the past (remember Friendster?), but the new behavioural model it has introduced has profound implications for marketers. And the notion of marketing in real-time won’t be displaced.
Combine Twitter and Google search results by including a greasemonkey script by Mark Carey into Firefox
How do brands engage in real time?
The short answer is: They participate. “Participation” isn’t just establishing a social “channel” for broadcasting your message. The speed at which social communications happen forces a brand to constantly be vigilant to its values. Participation means dedicating resources to publishing viewpoints. It means listening to those that talk about things you value and reacting truthfully.
The most common fear for a brand looking to participate is, “What if they say something bad about me?” Guess what? They will. People who wish to be heard and/or spread negativity thrive in the anonymity of the social Web. Certain industries obviously must be more vigilant than others. When my pharma clients ask me about participating, I get excited -- what a great opportunity for an industry with a battered reputation to regain some trust as leaders in science. To get involved in healthcare discussions, not as “lobbyists,” but as “experts.” To better educate consumers around the process of clinical trials, patents, and the real costs of producing medicine.
At the very least, brands should be listening. Listening is the first step to participation. So find out who is respected in your industry/category. Identify your influencers. Who produces the most sharable value (i.e. most retweeted), and who are your greatest supporters. Don’t be afraid to follow the “h8rs” either. Sometimes just showing people they have been heard is enough to turn an enemy into an advocate.
At the same time, really explore and revisit your own brand values. Align affinities and follow them. Opportunities for collaboration and partnerships will open up as brands identify shared audiences.
So what’s going to happen in 2010?
Look for more experiences for mobile devices and brands pushing the limits of social. According to a recent study from Econsultancy, 86% of brands plan on spending more money in social media in 2010. I’ll be keeping my eye on two technologies in particular:
1) A push to partner with single sign-on functions like Facebook Connect and OpenID. Gone are the days of the Facebook app. We should see further movement toward engaging users on their terms; and for services that require any form of digital identity management, letting someone “log in” using their Twitter/Facebook account allows them to maintain consistency in their digital experience across multiple destinations.
2) Geotargetting. Services such as Foursquare (and to a lesser extent Loopt, Brightkite, and Gowalla) have managed to make it fun to tell the world where you are. Twitter recently unveiled its Geolocation API. And while not quite there yet, one can’t ignore the recent changes to Facebook’s Privacy Policy regarding the use of location-based features.
Both of these shifts should have enormous implications for marketers. Behavioural targeting improves with better data. Imagine being able to direct message your customer when you know they are two blocks away from your store. Even better? Offer them a deal on something they mentioned on Twitter a week ago. It gets pretty “Big Brother” fast—but it’s appreciated by most if your customer likes you, and especially if you’re offering value.
Foursquare is a mobile social network application that lets its users “Check In” to just about anywhere. Businesses are already taking advantage of the location awareness by offering deals to potential nearby customers.
So how do I prepare for 2010?
Join Twitter and find an aggregator you like. I recommend Tweetdeck because it’s easy to keep several terms/hashtags going at once. But there are a few out there that are good. I’d also recommend customizing your own Google Reader/Netvibes/My Yahoo page that pulls content from relevant sources in real time.
You should also consider working with the experts, such as a digital agency with an expertise in social media. Full disclosure, Digitas Health has a proprietary Social Listening offering that encompasses everything described here and more for our pharmaceutical and biotech clients. But there are many agencies out there that specialize in listening and turning around insights fast. Start meeting with some.
Last, but certainly not least, take some time to revisit who and what you are—your company’s core offering, your product’s soul, how you plan to change the world. Because with a focused agenda, a dedication to listening, and the courage to participate, you’ll be amazed at how fast you can succeed with the real-time Web.
Brendan Gallagher, VP/Group Director at Digitas Health, heads the user experience department. Its clients many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical, bioscience and medical device companies, digitashealth.com
Follow Brendan on Twitter at @unclebrendan
Follow Digitas Health at @Digitas_Health
1http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/17-Twitter-and-Status-Updating-Fall-2009.aspx
2http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-google-social-search-i.html